Thursday afternoon in Florence, we popped in for a light lunch, thanks to YELP. We had tried to go…read moreto Sugar Blues, but it was closed for the afternoon 'Siesta'... so on to the Yelp AP! It was easy to search for nearby restaurants and be guided to our destination! We had to wait quite a bit before we had the server bring water to the table.... I never understand why bussing a table, when there is no one waiting for a table would take priority over the customers seated and waiting... and waiting.... However, the food was AMAZING. I had the pear, walnut and gorgonzola salad. (see photo) It was really fresh and exactly what I wanted! Our server was pleasant, and the prices were good. So travelers, bookmark this spot!

I went here for the first time about a month ago…read more LOCATION: It's located across the Arno, away from the busier areas of the city, but still not too far of a walk from it all either. 3/5 ATMOSPHERE: It's not too big inside, but it's not super small either. The decor is pretty simple, but not too boring. I mean, it's not amazing, but it has sort of a chill vibe, with white brick walls, dim lighting, and wine bottle-lined shelves on some of the walls. 3/5 SELECTION: On their website, their menu is described with, "Our menu is characterized by using genuine raw materials, preferably organic and seasonal products, it changes every month. You can taste both traditional Tuscan dishes that our personal reinterpretations." What I like most about their menu is that they use organic and seasonal products, and they have a good handful of clearly-labeled vegan options, but I will say that I wish there was a bit more variety in the vegan options, as most of them are soups and vegetables. 3/5 WHAT I GOT: I got the "Cous Cous o Riso al naturale con verdure a scelta dalla vetrina," which basically translates to "cous cous or rice with seasonal vegetables." I got it with rice. It was pretty good overall, and the one negative I have is that it was too oily -- like you can tell from my picture. But other than that, the actually quality of it all was good, and all the different vegetables tasted fresh, and they were thoroughly cooked. The rice wasn't under or overcooked either. Plus, it was a pretty good price (€8), as was most of the rest of the menu (reasonably-priced), especially for a restaurant that looks nicer than what you typically come across there, and that has higher standards (organic produce, etc.). 3/5 SERVICE: The service was pretty good. Our waitress seemed nice and friendly, and our food didn't take too long or anything to come out. The only complaint I have is that their website says they open for dinner at 6pm, but we went there at 6pm, and they said they start serving dinner at 7pm, which was annoying. But, we somehow managed to find some places nearby to look around at and whatnot while waiting. 3/5

Osteria Santo Spirito is an intimate little Italian restaurant tucked away in a corner of Centro…read moreStorico in Florence and I cannot recommend it enough! We spent three days in Florence and ate here twice, and cut our tour of the Acedemia out of our schedule to make sure we could make it for lunch before heading on to Rome, that's how awesome the food was! The people running the restaurant are so amazing, they truly treat you like family while you are there. They were always attentive, but never lingering. Unlike restaurants in the US where you are expected to eat and leave as soon as possible, in Italy food is mean to be enjoyed over conversation and camaraderie, which means unless you wave someone over or your glasses are empty you are left to enjoy yourselves. Osteria Santo Spirito is no exception to this rule. You'll be warmly greeted and well cared for but never hovered over. You will absolutely want to make a reservation, a wait for a table inside can take a bit to get if you just plan to stroll in off the street, but the seating outside is just as beautiful and a bit more plentiful. If you visit Florence and are looking for a place that doesn't take advantage of the tourists, and serves up amazing food, this is your spot for

After seeing lines night after night at this lovely little corner gem, we managed to secure a…read morereservation for 5 people & let's just say, it did not disappoint! We each got a primi and shared the Florentine Steak which was divine!!! The corner establishment looks tiny but not only is there outdoor seating and a small first floor dining but a second floor dining room with domed ceilings! Quaint!

We tried to get an on line reservation and three hours later we were still waiting confirmation so…read morewe decided to take a chance based on advice and great reviews and arrive early and get in line. Big tip...if you do the same line up to the right side of the door to this restaurant. To the left is reservations only. Once they opened, we were first in line we were thrilled to get a table outdoors. Wait staff were very nice. We shared a large beer, enjoyed the complimentary croutons and bread. Our order was a delicious caprese. Ooooh the mozzarella so creamy, tomatoes delicious. Our mains were the creamy tortellini and the chicken with roasted potatoes. Total yum in each bite. Happy we ended our week in the lovely city of Florence at this establishment. Highly recommend.

I liked that we were able to get over to the other side of town in Florence. It was pretty nice and…read morethe area has a different feel than the main part of town. The ambiance of this place is nice. It feels homey. Service was ok, not overly friendly, but not bad. This place gets packed because I think a lot of people recommend this place. The food is just meh. For all of the GOOD FOOD we had in Italy, this was probably one of the worst ones. (Probably only a couple of not great experiences, I would say) My "duck sauce" was DRY and the meat was stringy and old tasting. My hubs chicken was ok, but it was like he was eating a Costco rotisserie chicken. Which, I mean is good, but we paid was more than 5 bucks for it. And we got a side of spinach that was just cooked to oblivion... It was like I was eating baby food. NO THANKS.

Worth the tourist trap line. We went around 11:45 and got our food 30 minutes later. There are…read moreactually two stores next to each other so you can get in either line! We got the Tuscana after seeing many people recommending it on Yelp - nice work y'all! It was delicious. All their ingredients are clearly fresh including their bread. We also asked for them to cut our sandwich in half and it was just right for two people.

Fresh baked bread out of the oven…read more The sandwich is a pretty good size! If you ask the workers they will cut it in half for you! With that being said, ate half of the sandwich and felt so full. I saw many people order just one for themselves and not finishing it. Ordered the Italiano and it was perfect packed with fresh ingredients!!! Would return back when I return to Florence one day! Restaurant is super chill and casual with seating. There's even free restrooms to use which was a nice bonus!

such a cute space with friendly staff. as a vegetarian with celiac who loved all the gf croissants…read morein florence but also wanted something different and more filling for breakfast, i was super glad for this place to step up to the plate. i loved my avocado toast and juice, and enjoyed the bite of smoothie bowl i got to try. although no one else in my family shares my dietary restrictions, i felt good about bringing them here

I wish they would open up a sister shop in Roma! It was so good! My kids loved everything and my…read morehusband also got the pizza! It was excellent! Grazie voi

Oh, Starbene... you will remain the stuff of dreams. This mighty little gluten free bakery was one…read moreof my favorite shops in all my Italian travels. They have a wide assortment of gluten free goodies -- from cookies to pies to savory bread-based delights. It's all priced quite fairly, too. I came in around 6pm on a Friday, and the kind woman behind the counter advised me to come back in the morning because they had more things in the mornings. I was sincerely baffled and said-- wait, more?! To me, they had a ton of great options even at 6pm! Apparently the cases are packed full in the mornings and if you want your best pick of the lot, go then. But if you're like me and not able to do that for whatever reason, you'll still find plenty! I can't have gluten or dairy. Sometimes it's hard to find dairy free goodies in a gluten free bakery. Not so with Starbene! They had cookies, pies and tarts as well as some bread-based savory items -- all clearly marked as without dairy. Grazie, Starbene!! Made my whole night! I ended up getting some cookies (3 for 1€) -- they were almost like thumbprints, with blackberry jam filling and with chocolate hazelnut filling. So. Good. I also got an apricot jam tart (~3€, I think). It was also delicious! The apricot jam was just the right amount of sweet and the crust was perfectly flakey. Plus, there was a heart shape on top which was just the sweetest little detail. I also got a focaccina, which was kind of like a bread roll pizza without cheese or sauce. It was super good! I took it up to Piazzale Michelangelo and enjoyed it with a view of the city. Perfection! My next visit to Florence, Starbene's will be a must do. No question about it. Gluten free friends, get yourselves over there and enjoy!

This place was ok. I've had better here in NY and other local areas. I found there stuff to be very…read moredry and no flavor. Anyway, we went back last December (2022) it was closed. We didn't find it again when we walked past the direction.

Gracious service with delicious food! We loved the Florentine steak with potatoes and the fried…read morebread was as good as the previous reviews claimed. We enjoyed the chocolate cake and tiramisu for dessert. Would love to return if we are ever in Florence again!

This ristorante is fantastic! The staff is very friendly and welcoming. The owner is very gracious…read more The food! So delicious. You can't go wrong here. Five stars!

Great place in the Oltrarno. The crowd was a bit younger than in the more touristy part of…read moreFlorence. The staff were charming and funny. They were out of house red and served us a bottle of more expensive Chianti for the same price. We had pastas as our first courses. My buddy and I split an order of spaghetti with tomatoes and basil. It was light but great. The ladies shared an order of ricotta and cheese tortellacci that my wife considered a top 3 pasta experience. The ladies shared a filet mignon. My buddy and I shared an excellent t-bone Florentine. We shared an order of cantucci with vin santo for dessert. Prices are a bit lower on this side of the Arno. Great, relaxed evening!

Am I the only one that thinks the steak is way overrated?? I love my meat, but I personally didn't…read morefind anything special about it. It's cooked on the rarer side, as they suggest it to be, which is fine. The fatty crust is amazing but the meat wasn't melt in your mouth tender like I was expecting. It was actually a bit chewy. It was overall disappointing. Unluck of the draw, maybe? The risotto, which I had a taste of, was quite good albeit very rich and slightly salty. It made me wish I'd just gotten a "regular" dish but... when in Florence. It's a nice place, other dishes looked good. Lots of American tourists. Sorry.

We arrived to Florence excited to try the food and looking forward to somewhere to eat. We found…read moreDell'Orto and the food was amazing we were not disappointed what so ever! The service was great and we left happy, and this was just our first visit! We came back another time and the experience was even better! We were the last table and chef Lorenzo came out and shared some Amaro with us. All in all it was a great experience great food the nicest of staff and we even left with a gift. We promised to be back in one year and we hope not to break our promise! Thank you Guillerme , Aurora and chef Lorenzo for making our visit so special! See you next year!

My niece and I ate here last night and we loved everything about it. We split a steak Florentine,…read moreGreek salad and a pesto pasta. When I ordered the steak they told me it comes red and with no accompaniments. It is served rare and so flavorful. It was priced by the pound and came to 36 euros and definitely had some leftovers, it is enormous. I suggest ordering with a salad or vegetable. The Greek salad was delicious. My niece said her pesto was the best of her life :) The service was great as well. Nice warm atmosphere. I would love to come back some day.

We came, we saw, we conquered the bistecca Florentine! Every bite was more delicious than the bite…read morebefore. We were able to slide into a middle table around 9pm without a reservation. Talk about some lucky ducks! Everyone at this restaurant was super friendly, from popping our bottle of champagne to slicing our mid rare steak, service was fantastic and the food matched. We also ordered the eggplant which was fantastico. When we return to Florence we will definitely return to this restaur

This was a pleasant surprise for me in Florence. I was about to give up hope of finding decent food…read morehere. I was shocked how bad the food is. And the reviews for some of the places I went seemed completely disconnected from the meal I had.. Anyway back to this spot. I had the chiantigiana, it was a red wine, pepper, pecorino pasta dish and it was delicious. First time I've had something like that and boy was it good. Totally impressed. I would for sure have that again... We then had some chcilem with Spinach, it was very tasty oo. Maybe a tad salty but otherwise good. Dessert was panna cotta which was very tasty. I believe the crepes were good and the chocolate cake.. On the whole a great spot to come to in Florence. For sure try that pasta chiantigiana...